The Maestro : Ry Cooder on Cuba and the Essence of Music (PBS) | Don’s Tunes +

 

Ryland P Cooder - I mean just look at that Gibson

Ry Cooder: "To me, the essence of the music is the most important thing. You can get notes on tape, you can put a microphone up and somebody plays and you can get notes on tape anywhere in the world, and you can bring musicians here or go there. But unless you get the true atmosphere... The essence is in the atmosphere, it's in the place, and the people and the place. Especially in this room [Egrem Studios, Havana.] Because this room has seen the greatest Cuban musicians, including Arsenio Rodriguez. Since 1940, they've all played in this room; they've lived in this room. The piano is the same piano Ruben Gonzalez played when he recorded "Guaguanco a Todos los Barrios" in the late 70s. And if you go down to the vault downstairs, you see the tapes in the shelves, it says "Arsenio Rodríguez, 1950". All these guys, Beny Moré, they've all been there.

I put on Buena Vista or whichever of these records, and I feel really great. I feel buoyant and encouraged and it brightens the corner of the day. That’s what music is supposed to do. It’s not supposed to scare you or hurt you or upset you in some crazy way. It’s supposed to make you feel encouraged and connected to something. That’s what these Cubans are really good at doing with their music; they’ve done it for themselves as a country for a very long time in a very artful, highly crafted way.

This is a hell of a deal here. Many people love Oriental music or Indian music because it has these components in it. In an entirely different way of course, Buena Vista is designed to do that as well -- to do something nice for you. This is a very positive thing. "

PBS Interview 2000

Photo by Robert Knight Archive

Ry Cooder - Everybody Ought to Treat a Stranger Right (Live in studio)

"The Prodigal Son", Ry' Cooder's first new solo release in six years, is available now! Buy or stream now here: http://found.ee/RYtps

Ry Cooder’s last album, The Prodigal Son, is all America, our spiritual, hopeful voices, our raw cries and our sly provocations, voiced through the songs of the Pilgrim Travelers, The Stanley Brothers, Blind Willie Johnson, and Ry Cooder himself. This is black and white gospel church music, our own history of the spirit, sounding completely fresh and contemporary, framed by Cooder's expressive vocals and graceful, elegant guitar work. Aided by his son, drummer and chief collaborator, Joachim Cooder, The Prodigal Son is a deft commentary on our ailing moral state. This is music for these times, a fearless dive into the country’s soul and the man, Ry Cooder. For nearly 50 years, the immense scope and influence of Ry Cooder's music has perhaps been felt as much, or more than heard. As musician, producer, songwriter and sage, the Santa Monica, California native has explored music and culture from across the city, the state, the country and around the world.